Freedom rings because of our veterans

By

Published: Friday, November 9, 2012 at 03:54 PM.

Since the founding of this country, men and women — to date over 42 million — have put themselves in harm's way to fight for our freedom. Of that number, more than 1 million American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen have paid the ultimate price in defense of the nation. And this doesn’t count the hundreds of thousands who have suffered non-mortal wounds in war. The ones with missing limbs, the ones affected by the trauma that comes from battle.

Today there are about 21.8 million living veterans. About 9 million are 65 and older. Just within the past week, The Times-News has placed 19 flags in the obituaries of veterans who passed away. And we’re one newspaper in one town in one county in one state, well, you get the point. We’re not alone.

Last year, the last American military veteran to serve in World War I died. In not that many years, the last of the World War 1I veterans will also be gone. Future generations will name the final dead from the other conflicts — Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan — long after many of us have turned to dust ourselves.

We are free to go to church not because a minister insists, but because a patriot died at Yorktown. We are free to speak not because of a politician, but because our fighting men drove Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo to ground. We are free to assemble in protest or celebration as brothers and sisters because men fell at Antietam. We can petition our government, we can vote, we can travel freely across the fruited plain without papers, we can have fair and open court trials because soldiers fought — and died — to purchase these freedoms.

The price is high. They have died by gunshot and at knifepoint, by bomb and mortar, in air crashes and sent in sinking ships to the bottom of the ocean where there is no light, from poison gas and at the hands of blood-thirsty captors.

The wounded may have prosthetic limbs, or be confined forever to wheelchairs or crutches, and the physically unscathed may have nightmares of horrendous scenes no one should have to witness.

We do not send old men and women to war. We send our youngest, our strongest, our prime legacies. Moms and dads are separated from sons and daughters. Sisters and brothers, wives and children are left behind.

Since the founding of this country, men and women — to date over 42 million — have put themselves in harm's way to fight for our freedom. Of that number, more than 1 million American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen have paid the ultimate price in defense of the nation. And this doesn’t count the hundreds of thousands who have suffered non-mortal wounds in war. The ones with missing limbs, the ones affected by the trauma that comes from battle.

Today there are about 21.8 million living veterans. About 9 million are 65 and older. Just within the past week, The Times-News has placed 19 flags in the obituaries of veterans who passed away. And we’re one newspaper in one town in one county in one state, well, you get the point. We’re not alone.

Last year, the last American military veteran to serve in World War I died. In not that many years, the last of the World War 1I veterans will also be gone. Future generations will name the final dead from the other conflicts — Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan — long after many of us have turned to dust ourselves.

We are free to go to church not because a minister insists, but because a patriot died at Yorktown. We are free to speak not because of a politician, but because our fighting men drove Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo to ground. We are free to assemble in protest or celebration as brothers and sisters because men fell at Antietam. We can petition our government, we can vote, we can travel freely across the fruited plain without papers, we can have fair and open court trials because soldiers fought — and died — to purchase these freedoms.

The price is high. They have died by gunshot and at knifepoint, by bomb and mortar, in air crashes and sent in sinking ships to the bottom of the ocean where there is no light, from poison gas and at the hands of blood-thirsty captors.

The wounded may have prosthetic limbs, or be confined forever to wheelchairs or crutches, and the physically unscathed may have nightmares of horrendous scenes no one should have to witness.

We do not send old men and women to war. We send our youngest, our strongest, our prime legacies. Moms and dads are separated from sons and daughters. Sisters and brothers, wives and children are left behind.

That old man in front of you driving too slowly may have seen ships sunk at Pearl Harbor. The elderly woman whose lawn was trashed by vandals may have been a Navy nurse who cradled the dying. The men selling poppies outside Wal-Mart should be congratulated for their service, not avoided by ducking out the side door.

Our soldiers may be shipped home in flag-draped coffins. They may be laid to rest at a ripe age as a bugler calling taps. Each one who leaves us should leave an America that holds firm to virtue and honor, not sullied by ignorance or ignored by the generations te to come.

Every time we see a veteran we should feel a lump in our throats. Our chests should swell so large and our hearts should pump so hard we can feel it in our ears.

The price of freedom is not cheap, and it cannot be paid off with a medal or a shamefully small pension. A "thank you" to a veteran doesn't cost one copper penny. How many would like to hear those words every now and again before they become the dust of history?

Take a few moments this Veterans Day to thank those who served us. Pray that some day someone will write about the final veteran from the final war.